Monday, October 28, 2024

The Rare Jewel of Humility: How to Prevent the Disaster of Pride

Ask yourself if you want what is described in this quotation:

“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is for me to have no trouble; never to be fretted or vexed or irritated or sore or disappointed. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around is trouble. It is the fruit of the Lord Jesus Christ's redemptive work on Calvary's cross, manifested in those of His own who are definitely subject to the Holy Spirit.” -Andrew Murray.

There is a peace in humility. It’s something rare in western society. We have so many demands. We insist on our rights. We want everything our way. And we’re often upset, angry or irritable. And if we don’t get what we want it’s an outrage.
But what if we humbled ourselves? What if we let God be in charge? What if we let go of control? Let go, and let God.


There is an incredible peace in that. God is in charge of the universe, I’m not. And I don’t want to be. I want to be at peace. Like the word says, “Be still and know that I am God.” -Psalm 46:10

How did we get salvation? By controlling everything? Or was it by a radical, and a bit scary act of letting go of control, abandoning ourselves to Jesus Christ, and believing he could really save us? And sure enough, He did!

We’ve received forgiveness, grace, and divine favor. Our lives have been made new. We have been adopted by the Creator of the Universe as His beloved children. The gospel has been placed in our mouths to share with those around us. Sin has been crippled and defeated. The hope of salvation stands always before us.

Thus, the danger now becomes pride. Slowly but surely, we begin to focus on ourselves instead of God. Slowly but surely we think about how good we’re doing. And slowly but surely we begin to look down on others who don’t yet have Jesus as their savior.

The Bible even says that God opposes the proud. He will actively work against those who are walking in pride.



We’re going to be looking at a parable today that deals with the issue of pride.

Jesus taught these various parables to help us understand how to victoriously live in the fallen Earth realm. Without these truths we would be lost and confused, blundering from one problem to another, never making any progress in life.

But with these kingdom truths we can live a victorious Christian life.

Here today comes your secret weapon: Humility.



It looks so plain, that sign that reads “humility.” It looks so sad, so lowly, yet it is the key to victory. It looks drab. It looks like who would want that? Yet it’s the key. I promise you, it’s spiritual gold.

The world can’t see that. The world wants Armani suits, Gucci bags, Rolex watches, shiny diamonds and gold chains, and stacks of bills and flashy music videos and millions of hits online, but all of that pride of life, it destroys. It makes proud, and when one becomes proud, a fall soon approaches.

But pride isn’t just a problem in the world, it’s also a problem in the church. Pride destroys some of the greatest speakers and teachers. They are so wise, they have such knowledge, they’ve traveled the world, they’ve ministered to the least of these, they’ve suffered difficult trials, they’ve raised their children in the Lord, they’ve prayed fervently, they are suited up in great armor and seem unstoppable, they’ve built massive organizations, built multi-site campuses, raised millions in funds, raised up thousands of members, they might win the whole world for Christ.

But something stops them. Pride begins to take hold. Ego takes over. And slowly but surely, it undermines their entire ministry.

It becomes about them. It becomes about their knowledge, their ideas. It becomes self-focused. And slowly but surely the Spirit drains out of it. 

The Spirit begins convicting them, calling them to humble themselves. They resist it. They push forward into pride. This gives demons a foothold, and soon they are embracing false doctrines, lukewarm teachings, and they build the power in the organization around themselves. Eventually the Spirit even departs all together saying I have no part in this ministry.

And what once might’ve been a ministry that would’ve shaken the Earth itself, becomes just another self-focused personality centered church that has only a mild anointing of the Holy Spirit, if any at all.

The tragedy of it is astounding. I’ve thought many nights and mornings about the danger of pride and how to stay humble. My wife and I are both prone to pride. God has had to humble me in the past. And it wasn’t pretty.

In my first few years as a Christian I went on a surge of knowledge acquisition. There is so much knowledge, books, conferences, classes, and theology in modern Christianity. We get absolutely bloated with knowledge, but the heart doesn't keep up. Soon we're puffed up with knowledge, and the heart is still like a child, easily manipulated. With a head full of knowledge and a heart that is untested by trials, this lethal equation produces pride as if it were a recipe from a cookbook. But if we can balance knowledge acquisition with just as much heart change, Christian maturity can develop, which is a guard against pride, as it produces humility (through struggles and suffering). Christian disciplines like prayer, fasting, confession, repentance, and service to others train the heart. Love trains the heart. Only then will we stand a chance in this battle against self. 

But we shouldn’t assume pride is unstoppable or inevitable either. It is not. If we follow the words of Jesus, and live them, we can defeat pride, and wear humility as our garment.

Here’s what Jesus said in Luke 18, starting in verse 9:

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:” –Luke 18:9

Whose the audience? People who were confident of their own righteousness, and people who looked down on everyone else.

Let’s avoid both of these errors. We can’t be confident of our own righteousness. The Bible says none are righteous, all have sinned. What we can be confident of is Jesus’ righteousness, which is perfect.

But, we should never look down on anyone. Particularly the people we are helping. They are our equals, here at The Salvation Army. We are not above them. We’ve all come from tough situations.

Next Jesus begins the parable: (verse 10) “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”

The Pharisee, the most religious, the most focused, the most prayerful, the most dedicated, one who fasts and tithes, and does all the little things.

And a tax collector, a man who is working for a foreign power, taking money from his own people. Someone who is rejected from the synagogue. Someone who is universally hated and viewed as a traitor and enemy.

Next it says, (v. 11-12) “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Pride is the deadly danger to every participant of the Kingdom of God system. If we allow pride to get a foothold, slowly but surely we begin to transfer our reliance from Christ’s righteousness to our own efforts. 

Many of the great heroes of the faith fell to various sins, even greats like Solomon or King David. What went wrong? They didn’t guard their hearts. They let cracks in their armor. They allowed a foothold for the enemy. 

In the parable, the Pharisee thanks God for how great he is. And in his prayer he mocks the tax collector, and brags about his good deeds.

Where does pride come from? It comes from looking at ourselves and thinking, “Look how good I’m doing.”

Humility comes from looking at God and thinking, “Wow, what an amazing God I serve.”

We always have to return our focus outward, toward Jesus, and believe He is our savior. He is our righteousness. He is the only one who can save us.

It says the Pharisee stood by himself. God was not with him. His eyes were not on God. His eyes were on himself. And he saw himself as better than other people. He looked down on robbers, adulterers, and the tax collector.

Pride had consumed him. His service for God had become service to himself. What a terrible danger this is!

Next, in verse 13, “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”

The Pharisee stood alone. The tax collector stood far off. He was far from God, but God was there.

He was so humble, so contrite, so broken, that he refused to even look up toward heaven. He beat his breast, angry with himself, angry with his mistakes and his poor conduct. And he cried out, "God have mercy on me, a sinner!"

This should be our approach to the living God as well. Humble. Real. Convicted by our sins, frustrated with the ways we’ve fallen short. Yet boldly coming into the throne room of God crying out, "Lord have mercy on me, forgive me my sins!"

And that boldness is powerful, it pays dividends. Because God will forgive us, if we simply ask honestly and authentically for his mercy.

God is full of mercy, that’s what the Bible says (Psalm 103:8-10). 

The parable concludes this way, verse 14: “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Jesus was possibly paraphrasing a proverb from the Old Testament which says, Proverb 29:23, “One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.”

If in this series we’re looking at the machinery of how God’s kingdom works, this is another fact of life in God’s economy: If we get prideful and start bragging and showing off, God will humble us.

It will just happen and it’s a gift when it does. Because pride comes before a fall.

Similarly, if we humble ourselves before God, God will honor us. What does that mean? God will find ways to honor you, whether it’s a promotion at work, or something you did being recognized by the community. God will honor those who humble themselves.

How can we avoid pride? We can go back again and again to the mercy seat, to prayer, on our knees, and humble ourselves before God. We can empty ourselves of pride by giving God all the glory. We can guard our hearts against it.

That’s something I try to do, after a long day of ministry, I will pray at the end of the day and say, “God I give you all the glory. I keep none for myself.”



Another way we can live out this parable of humility is to remember the scripture that says, from Matthew 6:1-4, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

If you’re constantly telling everyone the good things you do for others, well, you’ve already received your reward. Your reward was bragging to people. But, if you tell no one, then your Father in heaven will reward you himself.

I remember when my grandpa Bernie died, at his funeral person after person came forward telling everyone about things grandpa had done for them. He had mentored them, he had picked them up for church, he had prayed with them, had coffee with them, and I thought to myself, wow, I had no idea! Grandpa didn’t tell anyone any of this stuff. We didn’t find out until his funeral. Isn’t that amazing? But grandpa was doing it the right way.

Sometimes I come home to my wife and tell her about the ministry I did that day, and I worry, am I doing these things to be seen? To show off? To tell others about it? The scripture says don’t even let your right hand know what your left is doing.

It’s another aspect of humility. I think we’ll stay humble more thoroughly if we keep our good deeds quiet, instead of telling everyone. Next time you help someone, or pray for someone, or give someone a Bible, don’t tell anyone, even your wife or husband, or best friend, or mom or dad. And your Father in heaven will reward you.

Remember the machinery of God’s kingdom system: God promises to exalt those who have humbled themselves. But he will humble those who exalt themselves.

Let go of control. Let go of trying to play god. It’s hard to let go of. It’s written into our DNA from the fall. We distrust god and rely on ourselves. We should instead rely on God, and distrust our own ideas. This will keep us humble and reliant on him.


Lately, I’ve added a piece to the armor of God from Ephesians 6 that I pray each day. After I put on the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, belt of truth, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, and sword of the Spirit, I put on the cloak of humility.

I think it’s biblical, the word of God does say to “put on” humility in Colossians 3:12. I would encourage you to "put on" humility each day as well. 

In all this, remember who the perfect example of humility was: Jesus.

It says in Philippians 2:5-10 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth”


Let’s pray today, and ask God to make us humble:

Lord, we humble ourselves. We renounce pride. Jesus forgive us for pride in ourselves and in our own ways. The only one we will boast in from now on is you. We humble ourselves before you now. We put on the cloak of humility. Keep us humble Jesus, in Jesus name, amen.

The Blessing: The blessing is that Jesus exalts a humble and faithful Christian. His mercy for a sinner who repents is beautiful and gives us hope.

The Challenge: The challenge is Jesus has no affection for prideful self-righteous attitudes. So we must refuse all forms of pride and humble ourselves consistently before the Lord.

One final thought I'd like to share: Do not underestimate the power of pride. It tastes so sweet to the fallen human mind. Yet it's fruit is so destructive it can hardly be imagined. Guard your heart. I'll say it again, guard your heart. One more time: Guard your heart. Put on humility, that drab garment that seems so plain, so honor-less, that makes you feel so plain and normal, and let that plainness and simplicity spare your life from the disaster of pride. You may never fully understand this side of heaven, what a gift that grave dishonor of humility was, to protect your heart and soul from the maddening wine of pride that destroys so many faithful witnesses. 

Next Steps:
A. To live out this parable we should take practical actions to keep ourselves humble.

B. To live out this parable we can read the book by Andrew Murray called “Humility.”

C. To live out the parable of the Pharisee and the publican we can pray against pride in our lives.

Discussion Questions:
1. Describe a time when you humbled yourself before the Lord.

2. Describe a time when God humbled you after pride had set in.

3. How does it feel to be looked down on?

4. Why do we look to self-righteousness instead of God’s gift?

5. How can you prevent pride from infecting your faith walk?